Black Bean and Brown Rice Burrito in a Collard Leaf Wrapper

Today has been another glorious weather day at our house. There is nothing better than spending time outside when the weather is nice. Of course I spent quite of bit of time reading about nutrition, you are shocked I know, LOL. I spent so much time engrossed in my book I lost track of time. Again this is nothing new since I frequently lose myself in a nutrition or health book. I get so engrossed reading about nutrition that time seems to stand still.

After hearing about a raw burrito earlier today from Courtney I was craving one. Raw was out of the question because I didn’t have anything on hand that I could use for filling. But I knew I could make a cooked variation so that is what we had tonight. Here is what I made:

Black Bean and Brown Rice Burrito in a Collard Leaf Wrapper
Serves 2 generously

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup cooked brown rice
1 ½ cup cooked black beans
1 cup raw asparagus, cut into thin coins
2/3 cup salsa (for filling), or to taste
¼ teaspoon cumin seed toasted and ground
¼ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon oregano, dried
¼ teaspoon paprika
6 collard leaves, stems shaved flat and end removed
6 tablespoons vegan cheese sauce, for garnish
3 tablespoons scallions thinly sliced for garnish
3 tablespoons salsa, for garnish
3 kalamata olives, for garnish
3 tablespoons cilantro, for garnish

Directions:

Combine the black beans, rice, asparagus, salsa, and spices and stir to combine. Warm to approximatley room temperature and taste for seasoning, adjust as necessary for your taste. Heat the filling to the temperature you desire before filling the wraps. Take 1/6th of the bean mixture and roll it into each leaf. Top the filled collard with warm vegan cheese sauce, salsa, slivered olives and cilantro.

Serve it with a knife and fork. If you prefer you can julienne the collards and use them as the greens on the bottom of the filling as a salad. Dan prefers the salad option and I like the filled leaves. This would also be good with some tofu tahini sauce if you happen to have that on hand. Sliced avocado would also be a good addition but I didn’t want to add the fat since Dan was going to be having dessert after dinner. ;-)

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 465.05
Calories From Fat (12%) - 54.4

Total Fat - 6.39g
Saturated Fat - 0.95g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 775.69mg
Potassium - 1335.28mg
Total Carbohydrates - 85.91g
Fiber - 20.89g
Sugar - 6.67g
Protein - 21.44g

Comments:

This wrap has a lot of flavor and is easy to put together if you keep cooked rice and beans on hand. For me this came together in very quickly. There is nothing like a meal that ready in minutes to make me happy.   This is a very filling recipe. I was only able to eat two of the three wraps which means lunch for tomorrow is in the refrigerator.

Each serving of this recipe contains approximately 5,200IU of vitamin A, 30mg of vitamin C, 200mg of calcium, 6.8mg of iron, 340mcg of folate, 330mcg of vitamin K, 430mcg of phosphorus, and 215mg of magnesium. In my opinion this is decent nutrition for such a quick and easy meal.

Unrelated Note:

I didn’t spend as much time in the kitchen as I had planned to but instead decided to enjoy the weather while it lasts. However I did find time to make black beans and rice for the refrigerator inventory for later in the week. I also made another batch of the reduced fat peanut butter. I tried a little of the peanut butter before I drained the oil and whipped water into it and I can safely say I really prefer this reduced fat method.

Dan came from work tonight with the nicest compliment from one of the guys he works with. Apparently Dan’s lunch is appealing to omnivores, or at least one omnivore. Thank you Jason, I really appreciate the compliment and liked your idea. ;-) According to what I heard from Dan his raw Mexican macaroni and cheese was appealing to Jason.

That is going to be it for me tonight. It is time for me to clean up the kitchen and relax. I hope you are all having a good evening. Talk to you tomorrow.